Date: 2/12/26 3:07 pm From: Joseph Neal <0000078cbd583d7c-dmarc-request...> Subject: Western Meadowlark probable migration
Big fields grassy pastures associated with former Lindsley Prairie are on both sides of the drive down Railway Alley to Chesney Prairie Natural Area. It is often good for meadowlarks. This morning was no exception. First singing I heard was by an Eastern Meadowlark, then followed by several Western Meadowlarks.
The first Western vocalizations were “chert” calls. Then I heard a good Western song. Another Eastern later, more Westerns. Just before reaching the chicken houses I was totally surrounded by Westerns in what I would call a chorus of songs and calls. They were in the field and in a tree right in front of me. Maybe altogether 20 birds. All of the calls and songs I heard were Westerns.
This is not the first time I’ve encountered a flock of Westerns around this time. My thought is these are birds that are part of a flock that is migrating or about to migrate.
I checked some my past records of encounters like this:
--50 to possibly as many as 100 meadowlarks with Westerns songs and calls in Kibler bottoms March 1, 2018.
--at University Experiment Farm in Fayetteville there were calls and songs from 5+ Westerns.
--There were at least 74 Westerns in a tight flock at Maysville March 1, 2013. I couldn’t find any of them two days later.
Overall, I have found only a few Western Meadowlarks in northwest Arkansas after mid-March.
